September 28, 2011

I have tons of posts saved of my favorite nail art from fellow bloggers. This manicure was inspired by Confessions of a Polishaholic's Silver Holo Skyscrapers from this summer. I love simple nail art like this, especially when I think it will be a great way to refresh an old manicure. Plus this one is super easy! I don't really love my version but I still love the idea and will probably use it again someday.

I didn't go for a skyscraper look since I used a purple polish, the drop dead gorgeous L.A. Girl Amethyst. I think these pictures show it off even better than my original post since I have a newer camera now. Anyway, I then added uneven stripes of China Glaze OMG. This is super easy and fast! Just make the stripes the width of the brush and vary their length.

September 26, 2011

I
love giveaways. Each week I'll post giveaways that I
think are awesome! I'm trying to
catch any giveaway that has nail polish
& I always post them on the Monday
before they close. I figure some
publicity towards the end of the entry period
is a good idea, so don't worry that
I've forgotten yours if I don't post it
immediately! On the other hand, I know
that I will occasionally miss a giveaway or
two. If I miss yours, please know that
it was accidental and nothing personal!

I've decided to note which giveaways aren't open internationally. The
default will be open worldwide, meaning I'll only note if they have
restrictions.

September 22, 2011

This is 3 coats of Essie Brazilliant from their summer 2011 collection. Super bright, but not neon orange with a barely visible pink micro-shimmer. I kind of hate Essie's tiny brush, but that is a personal preference. The formula was a little thick but still manageable.

in the shade

Not a color I'll be reaching for often but it's staying in my stash since I don't have very many orange polishes.

I'd painted my nails the day before with Essie Absolutely Shore. You definitely want your polish to be fully dry before applying one of the tattoos.

Each set comes with instructions.

It's so hard to choose from all of Big Ruby's cool designs, but I finally decided on a few tattoos form the Sea collection. Simply cut out the tattoos you want to use.

Then peel off the protective film.

Place the design face down on your nail. I marked the location of the design on the back to help me with placement.

Then just press a wet rag on the tattoo for 10-15 seconds.

Peel of the paper and you're already almost finished!

Big Ruby formulated a top coat to work particularly well with their nail tattoos. It's a great glossy topcoat that dries fast.

I did discover that the yellow shell didn't show up well over the another pastel. I was pretty sure that it wouldn't but I wanted to try for this how-to post. I tried another yellow shell over a darker color and it showed up perfectly.

Gorgeous except for my mistake with the low contrast between the yellow shell & the pale green!

September 20, 2011

This is 3 coats of the lovely Essie Absolutely Shore from their Summer 2011 collection. It's a very pale sea foam green creme. Not stark or chalky like some pastels, but very soft.
Pastel cremes are almost always a bit tricky. This one was better than most but still bit difficult compared to your average polish. It's streaky for the first two coats, but evened out by the third. I'm a big fan of large brushes since my nails are so wide, so the Essie brush always seems tiny to me. That is definitely just a personal preference though. I know lots of you hate wide brushes!
Overall a pretty polish that is definitely staying in my stash.

September 19, 2011

I
love giveaways. Each week I'll post giveaways that I
think are awesome! I'm trying to
catch any giveaway that has nail polish
& I always post them on the Monday
before they close. I figure some
publicity towards the end of the entry period
is a good idea, so don't worry that
I've forgotten yours if I don't post it
immediately! On the other hand, I know
that I will occasionally miss a giveaway or
two. If I miss yours, please know that
it was accidental and nothing personal!

I've decided to note which giveaways aren't open internationally. The
default will be open worldwide, meaning I'll only note if they have
restrictions.

NAIL POLISH & MORE

Paws to Polish is giving away a surprise package filled with goodies from OPI, China Glaze, Philosophy and much more!! Ends 9/20. *US

September 15, 2011

I won a French Tip Dip Kit a
while back and ended up really liking their white polish and their
topcoat. I contacted them to see if they might be interested in sending
me some of their other polish colors to try out and French Tip Dip Eccentric is the last one I've tried & my favorite!

Eccentric is a gorgeous, rich teal creme that just needs two easily
applied coats. I almost got away with just one. I don't have any teal
creme polishes for some reason. Not sure why since I love the way
Eccentric looks! This is definitely my favorite of the bunch & I
think I'll be wearing it a lot this fall & winter.

Here's a couple of shots in indirect sunlight! Glossy!!

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by French Tip Dip!For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

September 14, 2011

I won a French Tip Dip Kit a
while back and ended up really liking their white polish and their
topcoat. I contacted them to see if they might be interested in sending
me some of their other polish colors to try out and French Tip Dip Oceana is the fourth one I've tried.

Ocean is from their South Beach Collection. It's a gorgeous sea foam green with gold micro shimmer. So pretty! The formula was a little thick on this one as well, but a few drops of polish thinner helped out a lot. This is 3 coats.

A shot in indirect sunlight.

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by French Tip Dip!For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

This giveaway starts today, September 14th, and will end Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 11:59PM Central Time.

We'll select the winner with random.org's random number generator and notify the winner by email on Friday, September 30th.

The winner will have 24 hours to respond. If the winner doesn't reply within 24 hours, that winner will forfeit the prize and an alternate winner will be selected via random.org.

HOW TO ENTER:
I'm going to keep this one super simple. One entry per person. Use the form below to enter. This works MUCH better than comments, so I've turned them off for this post to avoid confusion.
&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Thanks for reading!
April

Wow, you ladies really love books! I think I just might start doing occasional reviews of my own with nails to match the book covers of course. Reading is such a huge part of my world. I never leave the house without a book, just in case. And I read myself to sleep most every night.

Ok on to the winner. #37 Zara of Never Unpolished! I already knew she was a fellow book lover because she posted lots of great Harry Potter nails earlier this year.

Thanks to everyone who entered! I'll be announcing a worldwide polish giveaway later today.
April

September 12, 2011

I won a French Tip Dip Kit a
while back and ended up really liking their white polish and their
topcoat. I contacted them to see if they might be interested in sending
me some of their other polish colors to try out and French Tip Dip Collins Avenue Blue is the third one I tried.

Collins Avenue Blue is from their South Beach Collection. I like the label design for this set, with the polish color becoming the bathing suit color. It's a very pale blue creme. Like most pastel polishes the formula was a little thick but it evened out by the third coat.

My polishes came in their own little traveling case and included 2 cards for trying out colors and nail art ideas!

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by French Tip Dip!For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

I
love giveaways. Each week I'll post giveaways that I
think are awesome! I'm trying to
catch any giveaway that has nail polish
& I always post them on the Monday
before they close. I figure some
publicity towards the end of the entry period
is a good idea, so don't worry that
I've forgotten yours if I don't post it
immediately! On the other hand, I know
that I will occasionally miss a giveaway or
two. If I miss yours, please know that
it was accidental and nothing personal!

I've decided to note which giveaways aren't open internationally. The
default will be open worldwide, meaning I'll only note if they have
restrictions.

September 6, 2011

I won a French Tip Dip Kit a
while back and ended up really liking their white polish and their
topcoat. I contacted them to see if they might be interested in sending
me some of their other polish colors to try out and French Tip Dip Riviera Moon is the second one I tried.

I'm not really a big sheer fan, but I love this one even more than yesterday's Cannes! Once again, the formula was
terrific and you can get this look with just 2 coats. Hard to capture this one! Riviera Moon is an excellent name for this lovely polish. It's a bit frosty and has more of an off white tinted base as opposed to the clear base in Cannes. Both Cannes & Riviera Moon are polishes that really shine in low light. Constantly flashing a subtle glow of color.

My boyfriend
Will loves this one too. Who would have thought that I would love 2 sheers in a row! This is why I love to get samples and win prizes in giveaways. I end up trying things I would never purchase & end up broadening my horizons!

Tomorrow I'll show both Cannes & Riviera Moon layered over a few colors.

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by French Tip Dip!For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

September 5, 2011

I won a French Tip Dip Kit a while back and ended up really liking their white polish and their topcoat. I contacted them to see if they might be interested in sending me some of their other polish colors to try out and French Tip Dip Cannes is the first one I tried.
I'm not really a big sheer fan, but I love this one. The formula was
terrific and you can get this look with just 2 coats. I took pictures in
all kinds of lighting to try and capture it's loveliness. My boyfriend
Will loves this one too! Nice change of pace from my usual tastes.

Thanks for reading!
April

This polish was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own & were not influenced by French Tip Dip!For more information you can read my disclosure policy.

I
love giveaways. Each week I'll post giveaways that I
think are awesome! I'm trying to
catch any giveaway that has nail polish
& I always post them on the Monday
before they close. I figure some
publicity towards the end of the entry period
is a good idea, so don't worry that
I've forgotten yours if I don't post it
immediately! On the other hand, I know
that I will occasionally miss a giveaway or
two. If I miss yours, please know that
it was accidental and nothing personal!

I've decided to note which giveaways aren't open internationally. The
default will be open worldwide, meaning I'll only note if they have
restrictions.

September 1, 2011

I posted a preview of the Juicy Couture Glitters
last week & this is my first full manicure using the Silver Glitter. I
started with 2 coats of American Apparel Poppy. I forgot how nicely it applied. Then just one layer of Juicy Couture Silver Glitter, a clear polish with medium hexagon glitter & occasional foil hearts.
Silver Glitter is super easy to apply and I even got a few hearts without
having to fish them out. I've always thought that glitters like this
were kind of a pain to apply but the application for this one was
superb.
I'm not a huge glitter fan and I would never have gotten this for myself, but I really love it! Thanks again to Midnight Manicures for this prize!